# IBM eliminates patent on who uses the toilet next

- Author: Joichi Ito
- Date: 2002-10-13T11:39:56Z


Spotted on slashdot
CNet
IBM flushes restroom patent
By Troy Wolverton 
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
October 11, 2002, 2:28 PM PT

IBM has quietly eliminated a patent it received on a method for determining who gets to use the bathroom next. 

The computing giant received a patent for a "system and method for providing reservations for restroom use" in December. But the company later decided to renounce all of its patent claims after a petition was made against it, according to documents released this week by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.Recently, I had been telling people that even though the market has collapsed, the number of patents being filed continues to increase. This, I had been saying, was an indicator that people were now focusing on building technology instead of their stock options and that we should look forward to great technologies ahead.

This article makes me wonder... ;-p





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